The United Nations climate conference in Antalya is scheduled for 9 to 20 November 2026. Its official calendar includes negotiating meetings, mandated events and a leaders' summit. These entries serve different purposes, and they are published on different pages. Start with the event name and date, then check whether you are looking at a programme, a meeting document or a decision adopted by the relevant body. UNFCCC COP31 conference page.
The conference and the leaders' summit have different dates
The conference opens on 9 November. The Antalya Leaders' Summit is scheduled for 11 and 12 November as the first part of the high-level segment. A notice about the summit therefore describes only part of the overall conference. If you are trying to follow the negotiations rather than a national statement, consult the main conference calendar for the meeting or agenda item you are interested in. UNFCCC high-level segment.
Start with the calendar, then open the individual event
The main schedule is a working calendar. The UNFCCC says it adds meetings as their times are confirmed. If you saved an early programme, open the current schedule again before relying on a time or looking for a webcast. The page offers filters for event type, body, access and time, as well as a filter for events with a public webcast. These are useful when you know one part of the name but are unsure whether it refers to an official meeting or an event held alongside it. COP31 main schedule.
The time zone on the main schedule is Europe/Istanbul. If you are following from mainland France in November, Antalya is two hours ahead. Bangladesh is three hours ahead of Antalya. A session at 15:00 in Antalya would be 13:00 in mainland France and 18:00 in Bangladesh. Write the date as well as the converted time when sharing an event. Someone reading a schedule on a phone may otherwise have to guess whether the time you sent was the original or the converted one.
If two entries sound similar, compare the organising body and event type before deciding which to follow. A discussion on a subject and a formal meeting at which a document on that subject is considered can appear on the same day. Both may add context, but they have different purposes. The calendar also offers access information. An event marked open and an event with a public webcast are separate fields to check. If you intend to watch remotely, look for the webcast indication on the specific entry and use the link published for that meeting. COP31 meetings at a glance.
What belongs to the leaders' summit
The summit page sets out the opening and the first part of the high-level segment for heads of state and government. Its schedule for Wednesday, 11 November includes an opening session, followed by a separate opening ceremony for the high-level segment. It then lists national statements alongside parallel events. If you are following a national statement, start with the high-level schedule and its details for that session. The main conference dates still matter when you want to follow work taking place on days outside the summit. Antalya Leaders' Summit programme.
A leader's speech can tell you what a government says it wants to achieve or what it intends to do. The speaker and date are the key details when you report those remarks. An adopted decision answers a different question. To identify an outcome shared by the parties, look for the relevant body and the text that was adopted. A commitment announced in a speech can be news in its own right, but it should stay attributed to the government or organisation that made it.
For a reader following a single issue, it can help to keep two tabs open. In one, keep the summit programme and look for statements by the governments you are following. In the other, keep the session page for the body handling the issue. That second tab is where a draft, a revised text or a decision can supply a different kind of evidence. If a headline uses the word agreement, check whether it points to one of those documents or describes a political announcement.
Why several bodies appear on the conference site
The conference hub links to separate session pages for COP 31, CMP 21, CMA 8 and the two subsidiary bodies. The COP is the Conference of the Parties to the climate convention. CMP refers to the meeting of the parties to the Kyoto Protocol, and CMA refers to the meeting of the parties to the Paris Agreement. The subsidiary bodies are the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice, or SBSTA, and the Subsidiary Body for Implementation, or SBI. Several sessions take place during the conference, so the familiar shorthand COP31 can refer to the overall event even when a particular document belongs to another body. UNFCCC conference hub and session documents.
Use the heading on the document to work out where it belongs. If an article discusses a Paris Agreement item and cites a CMA document, search the CMA session page for the matching item. An entry with a similar title on the COP page can refer to related work under a different body. Keeping the body with the item number is more reliable than using the number alone. The conference hub also lists supplementary provisional agendas, so a saved copy of an early agenda may need to be read with an addendum.
The body matters especially when you are trying to reconstruct a timeline. An issue can be discussed in one forum and taken up at another stage under a different heading. Record where a text appeared and the stage it had reached at the time. If an article says negotiations continued but supplies no document, look for a meeting entry or an official session update first. You can then add a text when it becomes available, without treating the fact that a meeting took place as evidence that an agreement was reached.
Follow an example from the calendar to its source page
Earth Information Day is listed as a mandated event on Monday, 9 November. Its own page gives a planned time of 15:00 to 18:00 in Antalya and links to an information note and draft agenda. That page is a good example of why an individual entry is useful. The calendar tells you where the event sits in the day. The information note gives context for the topics, and the draft agenda gives an intended order. Those materials can help you decide which part is relevant before a session starts. UNFCCC Earth Information Day event page.
For example, if you want to follow a particular discussion during that event, write down its title and any time specified on the event page. Recheck the calendar closer to the session and look for an official webcast or later materials. When making notes, distinguish a presentation from a conclusion. A speaker can describe a set of measurements, a research gap or a proposal for better observations. That contribution can help explain the issue without being a decision taken by the conference.
The same approach works for side events. Look at who organised the meeting and what material they posted. If a group presents a plan, record the group and the document title. If you want to know whether the parties adopted something connected with the topic, search the relevant official session separately. A side event can provide evidence or background for understanding a debate. Its inclusion in the calendar does not establish that every participant in the conference endorsed the views presented there.
Check the document label before calling it a decision
Start with the cover or heading, which should identify the session, the body and the document type. A provisional agenda lists business proposed for the session. A draft text records wording at a stage of discussion. A report of the session or a published adopted decision is what you need when describing the outcome. The conference hub groups agendas and session documents separately, which makes it easier to avoid confusing a proposed item with agreed wording. UNFCCC sessions and documents.
When comparing versions, note the title, date and identifier before quoting a sentence. If you see a passage in an early draft that is missing from a later text, the difference is evidence that the wording changed. It does not by itself explain who requested the change or why. For that, seek a record that attributes the position, such as a published statement. Similarly, if a story says a measure was adopted, look for the adopted document and confirm that the body, topic and version match. Save the exact link instead of relying on a screenshot with no heading.
A useful set of notes can have separate lines for the agenda item, latest text and final outcome. Before the final outcome is available, leave that line empty or label it pending. That way, an early note can still be shared without becoming misleading when the conference moves on. Add the decision number or the official text link when it is published. If you are comparing what governments said at the summit with the eventual wording, keep both references. The difference between the two is often the point you are trying to understand.
What the French trend showed
A Google Trends capture for France on 8 November listed “climat” fourth among results sorted by search volume for the preceding 24 hours. It showed a 50K+ band and an Active label. The query is broad and the snapshot does not identify the conference as the cause of the searches. COP31 was selected as a timely topic within that search area because its opening was scheduled for the next day and the UNFCCC had already published a calendar and session materials. Google Trends France.
The conference has several moments that a reader may want to check separately. Opening day is the starting point for the overall schedule. The summit has its own dates and national statements. An individual subject can have a meeting date that falls outside either of those milestones. If you only follow one topic, begin with its session and track the wording there. For another example of matching a conference announcement to the correct date and programme, see our guide to the Basel Autumn Fair schedule, which uses the same date-checking principle for a different type of event.
To follow the outcome from outside Antalya, bookmark the conference hub and the specific session page you need. Open the current calendar before the event, then return to the session documents for the text. A schedule can tell you where to watch and a statement can tell you who said what. When a claim concerns what was agreed, check the record for the body that made the decision.
Keep a short record as the programme changes
For a team following the conference remotely, assign each item one line in a shared note. Put the Antalya time beside the converted time, then add the organising body and the official page. A later update can change a room, a time or the form of access. Keeping the original link beside your note lets the next person see the latest programme instead of assuming the details in a message are still valid. When a webcast is available, record which event it belongs to. A replay from a parallel session can otherwise be mistaken for coverage of the meeting you meant to follow.
After the event, replace a planned time with an actual time only if the source supports it. Keep the planned agenda and the observed sequence separate if they differ. A short record can simply say that the programme listed a discussion, that a recording is available, and that an adopted text has yet to appear on the session page. Each clause points to a different kind of evidence. A reader can then check the programme, watch the discussion or return later to find the outcome without having to interpret a general claim that the issue was settled.
Sources consulted 8 November 2026, Bangladesh time.